Tomas Plekanec | Center

Latest News

Recent News

Tomas Plekanec will enter the sixth and final year of a $30-million contract in 2015-16.

He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer, but it wouldn't be surprising if he signed an extension with the Canadiens long before that. Plekanec has spent his entire 761-game career with Montreal. He recorded 60 points in 82 matches last year and he is one away from reaching the 500-point mark. Jun 18 - 11:30 AM

After a quick trip to the IIHF WHC, Tomas Plekanec was busy, but the Czech Republic lost to Canada 2-0 in a semifinal game.

Plekanec fired seven SOG despite probable jet lag, yet he couldn't score. His team was shut out and now fights the U.S. for bronze. May 16 - 4:16 PM

Tomas Plekanec believes that scoring the first goal in a game will be key for Montreal.

The Canadiens lead the best-of-seven series three games to two, but they have conceded the first goal in each game. "We have to make it tougher on [Craig Anderson] and we have to score that first goal," said Plekanec. "When they scored the first, they were able to fall back on their defence." Apr 26 - 8:56 AM

The line of Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk was Montreal's best unit Friday night against Ottawa.

The line produced 16 of the Habs' 42 shots on net and was buzzing around the Senators' net all night long. It also was responsible for the overtime winning marker. With Max Pacioretty back in the lineup alongside David Desharnais, the Canadiens are a dangerous team. Apr 18 - 10:07 AM

Depth Charts

David Desharnais is now fully recovered from the flu and will dress for Game 3 Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.

Desharnais was unable to play Sunday night after coming down with the flu but will back on the ice for Game 3. The 28-year-old has tallied two assists through seven postseason games in 2015 and was playing center between Alex Galchenyuk and Dale Weise during the team’s morning skate Wednesday. Brian Flynn will be taken out of the lineup to make room for Desharnais in Game 3.

Tomas Plekanec will enter the sixth and final year of a $30-million contract in 2015-16.

He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer, but it wouldn't be surprising if he signed an extension with the Canadiens long before that. Plekanec has spent his entire 761-game career with Montreal. He recorded 60 points in 82 matches last year and he is one away from reaching the 500-point mark.

He had one goal and two assists in 12 playoff matches, while averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time per game. During the regular season, he earned 27 points in 77 appearances and his average ice time checked in at 15:29 per match. Eller feels he has more to give and he would like to get a larger role to do that.

The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed Brian Flynn to a two-year/$1.9 million contract.

Flynn was due to become a restricted free agent on Wednesday. He played well in the playoffs for the Habs with three points in six games but is more of a depth forward for Montreal. He had five goals and 17 points in 63 games last season so we really cannot recommend him in fantasy pools.

Pacioretty is expected to need 12 weeks to recover, which means that he likely won't be ready until the start of October. This obviously pushes his availability for the start of the season in question. It also makes us wonder if his conditioning will be an issue as this injury might prevent his ability to properly prepare over the summer. Keep that in mind when it comes time to do your fantasy drafts.

Alex Galchenyuk believes that signing a new contract didn't take too long.

"It didn’t take that long at all because we’re not even in August," Galchenyuk said Friday morning during a conference call from his off-season training base in Miami. "I changed agents and then I went back to Russia for three weeks, and with the time difference I didn’t speak to (new agent Pat Brisson) a lot. Once I got back to Montreal, everyone went pretty quickly." The young forward agreed to a new two-year contract earlier this week. Although his offensive production hasn't exploded in his first three NHL seasons, he still has plenty of time to develop into an impact player.

The win allowed the Canadiens to lock up first place in the Atlantic Division. De La Rose's goal late in the second period tied the game at 3-3. The 19-year-old finished his first NHL stint with four goals, six points and a minus-4 rating in 33 games.

Brendan Gallagher has been enjoying his time playing for Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien.

Gallagher has played all three seasons under Therrien and enjoyed his most successful season last year, scoring 24 goals and 47 points while playing in all 82 games. He also recorded career bests with a plus 18 rating and 254 shots on goal. Gallagher attributes a lot of his success to Therrien; "I think it’s been really good for me," Gallagher stated. "Coming up as a young guy, I think (Therrien) did it great with me and (Alex) Galchenyuk there to start. He made us earn every opportunity." Next season, Gallagher will look to build upon three solid years and be one of the team leaders in his age-23 year.

Weise didn't take part in the team's morning skate, but coach Michel Therrien said that he should be available for duty tonight. We'll keep an eye on Weise's situation as we get closer to puck-drop, but expect him to play.

Zack Kassian openly admits that he had more to give than he did with the Vancouver Canucks and aims for more consistency in Montreal.

"I need to find consistency," Kassian told TSN. "Honestly, after spending 3 1/2 years, four years in the League I know what I have to do to be the player I need to be. This summer I'm really taking strides forward. Coming into next year I want to have a big year." Kassian, 24, had 10 goals and 16 points in 42 games for the Canucks last season. In 2013-14 he set career-highs with 14 goals and 29 points in 73 games. He's at the put up or shut stage of his career and it seems the Canucks lost patience with him. We'll see if a fresh start in Montreal changes his fate.

Alexander Semin said that Andrei Markov told him to come to Montreal to help the team win a Stanley Cup.

"I like Montreal. I like this town. I like the fans here. It’s a good atmosphere. There are good people on this team. It’s a good organization," added the 10-year NHL veteran, who has suited up for Russia internationally on multiple occasions over the years, including at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. "I spoke to Andrei Markov about coming on board. He said to come [to Montreal] and we’ll try to win the Stanley Cup." Semin had an awful year with Carolina last year. He knows he'll have to be better and he expects to help his new team just as much as they'll help him. "I want to try [to get going again] because last year I had a bad season. I didn’t score goals. I didn’t pick up points. I didn’t play well. I want to get back to playing how I can play. I think I can help this team, and they can help me, too. I want to have a good year,"

Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal of the postseason in Saturday's Game Five win over Tampa Bay.

Smith-Pelly scored the opening goal in the first period and the Habs lead held until the third period. The 22-year-old has dished out a good amount of hits but he hasn't produced much offense since joining the Canadiens. Don't plan on Smith-Pelly scoring much as the Canadiens playoff run continues. He plays more of a bottom-six role.

Torrey Mitchell's time in Montreal will be extended as the forward has re-signed for three years and $3.6M.

The Quebec native Mitchell registered just a single point in 12 games for Montreal after coming over in a trade with Buffalo during the regular season, but he quintupled his output with a goal and four assists over their 12 game playoff run. With 20 players now committed to their 2015-16 books, the Canadiens have $2.525M in cap space. Mitchell can't be recommended for your fantasy squad, but Canadiens fans can still be happy to have a reliable veteran defensive forward to help round out their bottom-six.

P.K. Subban doesn't agree with the suggestion that the Canadiens were a team in transition.

"It's easy to say we're in transition, but we finished first in our division, we've had two pretty good years (in the playoffs)," Subban said. "The expectations are high. You look at all the young players on our team and you can say we’re in transition, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have just as many young players on their team. So I don't think there are any excuses. We fell short." Subban, who turned 26 on Wednesday, had the best season of his career in 2014-15 with 15 goals and 60 points in 82 games. He wants to take advantage of Montreal's window to win a championship, but admitted that Montreal did not play "well enough to contend for a championship."

Andrei Markov doesn't believe that the lack of a captain is an issue for the Montreal Canadiens.

"I don’t see the big problem," said the longtime alternate captain. "It’s not the players’ call, it’s from the top of the organization. You should ask them, not the players. If you want to be successful, you need to have 23 leaders in the room. Twenty-three captains.". After Brian Gionta signed with the Buffalo Sabres last off-season, the Canadiens never named a new captain for the 2014-15 season.

Montreal acquired Petry from Edmonton on March 2 and signed him to a six-year, $33 million extension on Tuesday. "From the day I got there, to the playoffs, the environment at the Bell Centre, the players in the locker room and the organization just being first-class. It was a real eye-opener. It all played a big part in my ultimately signing the deal," Petry said. With him under contract, Montreal has now locked up three defensemen through at least the 2017-18 campaign, including P.K. Subban and Alexei Emelin.

Alexei Emelin scored his third goal of the year in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Florida.

He was playing in his second game since returning from a shoulder injury. Emelin was seen icing his shoulder, so it still appears to be causing some discomfort. He was also credited with four hits and two blocks versus the Panthers.

Tom Gilbert picked up an assist in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 3.

He has two goals and two assists in his last five games and a three-game point streak. Fellow defenseman Greg Pateryn had the other helper on Brendan Gallagher's lone marker of the game for the Canadiens.

Nathan Beaulieu is happy he and the Canadiens were able to get a deal done on Saturday.

"I wouldn’t say it was a priority," Beaulieu added of needing to get his signature on a contract, not having been eligible for salary arbitration. "But I knew what I wanted and once Montreal and I contacted each other, we (realized we) had the same game plan, the same mindframe. It was very easy to get the job done. I’m very happy with how everything played out." The young defenseman didn't post big numbers in 2014-15, but he was a solid presence on the Habs' blue line. It looks like he's going to have a bright future going forward.

He became the first goaltender since Dominik Hasek in 1998 to win the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player, Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender and the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player as voted by his peers. Price also added the William H. Jennings Trophy for the best goals-against average, which he shares with Chicago's Corey Crawford, to his trophy case. He is the first goalie in NHL history to capture all four awards. The voting wasn't even close for the Vezina, Hart and Lindsay awards. Price was a star in the 2014-15 season and was certainly deserving of the accolades he received.

Dustin Tokarsi was only able to stop 16 of 18 shots in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils Friday night.

Tokarski wasn't tested too much Friday night but unfortunately the offense couldn't get it going against Keith Kinkaid as the Canadiens lost to the Devils 3-2 in a shootout. Tokarski was only able to stop one of the three shooters he faced in the shootout. The loss drops his record to 6-6-4 on the season.